England draw against Ukraine

England drew 0-0 against Ukraine in Kiev, in a dull performance which leaves Roy Hodgson’s team top of Group H with two games left to play.

The England manager admitted that he was satisfied with the result, due to the fact that he had next to nothing in terms of proven strikers to fill the places of Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge. The game was viewed by 70,000 in a stadium that was starved of any real excitement and goal mouth action. Any bet online during the game would have been few and far between, with the only apparent outcome being clear from early on the match.

On the positive side, the draw leaves England at the top of their group, one point ahead of Montenegro, with two games left, both of which will be played at Wembley. The feeling in the English camp is that it is in their hands to win and gain automatic qualification, especially with home advantage being such a crucial factor in these types of competitions. Roy will be hoping that his strike force of Rooney, Welbeck and Sturridge will all be fit and available for selection when the time comes, especially as they go looking for the win against Montenegro and Poland.

The worrying aspect for any England supporter will be the fact that The Three Lions team have not won any games except against Moldova and San Marino. This record does not necessarily inspire confidence and instill fear in opposing teams. On the plus side, the defence looks solid as Andy Cole and Chelsea defender Gary Cahill performed well and coped comfortably with everything that Ukraine could muster. Also, one would assume with Wayne, Welbeck and Sturridge back on board, the team will resume normal service of scoring goals. England has an enviable record of scoring in every international since drawing against Italy in 2012, a record that has been tarnished by the 0-0 result in Kiev.

The next game against Montenegro is scheduled for Friday 11th October, and I am pretty certain the nation’s expectations will be for an emphatic England win!